


Braids

by mage_cat



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Lapis is mentioned more than she actually appears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 09:27:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11643699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mage_cat/pseuds/mage_cat
Summary: When Steven gets Lapis out of the barn for a day, Amethyst grabs the chance to get time alone with Peridot and introduce her to Li'l Butler. As the marathon continues, Peridot asks to braid Amethyst's hair to give her hands something to do and help her focus on the show.





	Braids

**Author's Note:**

> I am alive! And posting fluff to get myself back into the swing of things before getting all plot-y with my multi-chapter fic. Enjoy the one-shot.

“I think you're gonna like this Peri,” Amethyst said as she slid a VHS cassette into the player.

“Are you sure you don't want to wait for Lapis to come back with Steven?” Peridot asked from the couch.

“Pretty sure. _Li'l Butler_ doesn't seem like Lapis' kind of humor.” Actually, Amethyst wasn't sure what Lapis would like, she just knew that having her around tended to dampen the fun she otherwise had with Peridot. There was a reason that Amethyst had held off on introducing Peridot to _Li'l Butler_ until Steven had plans to show Lapis something that was expected to take all day, leaving her and Peridot to set themselves up on the barn's TV-watching balcony with no worries about being interrupted. She didn't share her favorite show with just anyone, and Lapis still fell in that category. The fact that the warm, tingly feeling she got in her gemstone when she was with Peridot or thought about her tended to fade abruptly when Lapis entered the picture had nothing to do with it. Nope, not a thing.

They started the pilot sitting about a foot away from each other. By the time the credits rolled twenty-four minutes later, Peridot was leaning against Amethyst's shoulder.

“Do you get this cuddly with Lapis during _Camp Pining Hearts_ marathons?”

“It makes Lapis uncomfortable, and it's not very comfortable for me either. You know how, even when water is the same temperature as the air around it, it still feels chillier? Her skin is like that. But you run warm, even for a Quartz.” Amethyst thought for a moment that Peridot was about to snuggle deeper into her side, but she straightened up instead. “If you want me to keep some distance, I can. I'm fine with it.”

“N-no. It's cool. I'm just messing with you. Come on, the next episode is starting.” Amethyst draped one arm over the back of the couch, inviting Peridot to go back to siting where she had been. When the first tape ended, that arm had slipped around Peridot's shoulders. Amethyst would have been reluctant to move if it wasn't for the fact that the sound of the static clearly bothered Peridot.

Amethyst popped the cassette out as Peridot observed, “We're four episodes in now, and nothing has changed from the original setup. I would have expected more groundwork being laid for long-term conflicts, but all the problems so far have been resolved in the same episodes that introduced them.”

“Yeah,” said Amethyst, as she grabbed the next tape, “in a show like this, the episode plots are mostly an excuse to set up jokes instead of the next episode. In the long run, things do change, but it's mostly 'cause the kid actors keep aging, and it would be weird if they didn't acknowledge that, or they add new characters to change up the jokes. Don't try too hard to analyze it, at least not on the first watch-through.”

“So it's one of those 'turn your brain off' things?”

Amethyst shrugged. “Meant to be anyway. I've seen people read way deep into it and it's kinda cool, but, like I said, it's mostly written to be jokes.”

“I like jokes. The logical mechanics are interesting.”

* * *

 

Peridot sat through the next episode trying to simply enjoy the comedy without over-analyzing the motifs and character dynamics, and wondered if there was a way to partially distract herself. There was a time that the buzzing feeling at the front of her head that so often came from being around Amethyst would have been distraction enough, but she was used enough to it that it had mostly become a background sensation, though one she missed when it was gone.

Amethyst's hair tickled her cheek. She never quite stopped being surprised how soft it was. Considering that she knew that a small act of will on Amethyst's part could turn her hair into a cutting blade, its relaxed state was very pleasant to the touch. It gave her an idea. “Can I try braiding your hair? There are instructions in that Pretty Hairstylist manga you brought over that I want to attempt, but even if Lapis was willing to let me try on her, her hair's too short.” She had practiced some of the techniques with rope from around the barn, but anything past a basic three- or four-strand braid really did require a head of hair.

Amethyst looked at her in surprise, but didn't hesitate when she said, “Sure. Let me sit on the floor so I don't have to bend my neck all weird.”

As Peridot started with what had been described as the most basic technique, a French braid, Amethyst relaxed into the touch. Having fingers working through her hair felt nice, but the only person who had ever really been interested in doing it had been Vidalia. Steven had done it some when he was little, but he was still mostly just tangling his hands in there by the time someone taught him about personal space and he stopped.

There were a few false starts as Peridot figured out how far back on Amethyst's head to start, how much hair to start with, and how much to take up with each pass, not to mention feedback from Amethyst when she pulled too tightly, but by the time the credits rolled again, she had gotten past the nape of her neck and was willing to call it a success. Amethyst ended up pausing the tape before the next one started so Peridot could grab her tablet to take a picture of the result.

The process repeated while they maintained a running discussion about the events on the screen. Peridot figured out the Dutch braid over the course of the power-outage episode, and waterfall braids while they watched the mini-golf episode. Amethyst had to admit, when she saw the pictures of that last one, that her hair fluffed out so much that Peridot's work was almost impossible to see. The Hawaii vacation special was accompanied by Peridot slowly gathering all of Amethyst's hair into a braided crown around her head, which also involved Peridot summoning bobby pins from somewhere.

“That's the last one I wanted to try,” she said as she showed Amethyst the final result. “Do you want me to take it down?” She really hoped she would decline. Peridot enjoyed being able to see both of Amethyst’s deep blue eyes at the same time and that was much harder when her hair was loose.

Amethyst's “Don't worry about it,” was met with a smile.

The two of them had just settled back on the couch and had realized that sunset was causing an inconvenient glare on the screen when Steven and Lapis returned, doubling their reasons to call it a day for the marathon. They ventured back down to ground level.

“Oh,” Steven said when he saw Amethyst’s hair, “that's different.”

“Yeah, P-dot's hands got bored so I let her use my hair as a fidget toy.”

“You look pretty.”

“There's a word I don't get much.”

Confusion settled over Peridot's face. “Why ever not?”

“I dunno.” Amethyst shrugged. “I guess 'pretty' sorta implies 'delicate-looking' which really ain't me. Pearl gets called pretty. Rose did sometimes, but I think that had a lot to do with how she carried herself. I could see Lapis getting called pretty... or you.”

Peridot's cheeks started to turn blue. “You think I'm pretty?”

“I, ah,” Amethyst’s hand went to the back of her neck as she wished she could hide behind her hair. The few wisps of curls that floated down from her hairline were no substitute for a bang over half her face. “I know you don't like being called 'cute,' so yeah. 'Pretty' is a good word I think.” Her focus snapped onto Steven. “Oh, hey, didn't you promise Pearl you would be back before it got dark? We'd better go.” She grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the barn while waving goodbye to Peridot and Lapis.

Peridot was left blinking in the wake of their hasty departure, causing her roommate to smirk. “You two should just fuse already and get it over with. You're certainly dancing around each other enough to manage it.” Lapis headed into the barn to work on a morp idea she had gotten earlier in the day.

* * *

 

Once that were out of sight of the barn, Amethyst slowed down and let go of Steven's hand. He grinned at her, “So you think Peridot is pretty?”

“Shut up,” she said, pulling pins from her hair. She could see now that they were a brass color that would probably be nearly invisible in Peridot's hair. Amethyst tucked them into her shirt.

“She seemed surprised that you said people wouldn't say the same thing about you.”

“You try any Cupid nonsense, and you're getting no mercy in our next sparring match.” How many bobby pins had Peridot used?

“You're not supposed to be holding back on me in our sparring matches anyway. Why don't you just...”

“Look, this is new for me, alright?” She turned to him abruptly, causing the end of the braid to finally come free and fall over her shoulder. “And if I do this wrong, I still have to work as part of the team with her. I don't want to make that any weirder than it has to be.” She began to unravel Peridot's handiwork. “Just… just let us figure it out.”

Steven was still grinning. “I can tell you what I figured out. Peridot thinks that your pretty and strong and funny, and she was happy to spend all day alone with you.” The singsong quality in his voice towards the end earned him a glare. Maybe Steven was just giddy to see romance bloom, but the sound was too close to teasing for Amethyst's comfort. He backed down a bit. “Okay, no Cupid, but do you want me to find more reasons to get Lapis out of the barn?”

Amethyst finally worked her bangs free. “I can ask Peridot out on dates without help, Little Man.”

Stars appeared in Steven's eyes. “Are you going to?”

“Only if you stop looking at me like that.” But she smiled as she said it.

 

 


End file.
